


Kaleidoscope

by Bnemesis



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:40:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21633793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bnemesis/pseuds/Bnemesis
Summary: Writing Discord's 2019 Soulmate ChallengePrompt- Touch and see color for the first timeThe best kind of people bring some color to your life. Be it a calm rainy day, or a chaotic night in town, they bring a smile to your face and a rainbow to your view. Cass didn't think she'd see the colors. Wren was waiting to see the rainbow. A chance meeting in a cafe might just give them that color.Or: Sometimes all it takes is a nudge in the right direction. Literally.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6
Collections: FWC Soulmate Collection





	Kaleidoscope

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Casper for letting me use Cass, and guiding me through posting on AO3.
> 
> Tooth rotting fluff ahead. You have been warned.

**Kaleidoscope**

For the Writing Discord's December 2k19 Soulmate Collaboration

By: Bnemesis

  
  


Soulmates. Everyone has at least one. And until you meet them, and touch their skin, everything is shades of grey. Literally. For some the colors bleed into their life slowly, with every encounter something new. And for others, it rushes in like a flood tide, one moment the world is dull and the next they're blinded by how the world truly is. 

"You'll find yours someday, my little bird. And then you'll understand what your mother means when she talks about your sunshine hair, and gushes about the stars." Wren's father would say this often, mother chiming in with discussions on how the grass was green, and how lovely her lavenders were today. How the sky was a brilliant blue, and the ocean a deeper expanse. Wren was endlessly fascinated by this. She wanted to know about rubies, and sapphires, and emeralds. Why were they always used for comparison with eyes? Or about flowers. Sure roses were pretty, but what did they  _ really _ look like???

Cass, on the other hand didn't wonder.  _ Wondering about these things could only lead to disappointment _ , she rationalised. Her sister would often chatter about the color of sapphires, and how Cass reminded her of them. Her hair was dyed, sure, and they called the color blue. But she didn't see it, she didn't know if she would like it. All she saw was monochrome, and that was what she understood.

Often she would take refuge in a cafe down the street. A little place in light shades of grey and whites. With little cakes laid out by flavors, and coffee and tea in ceramic mugs. It was quiet there. It helped that the waitress was cute. A tiny thing in a ruffled apron decorated with polka dots and cupcakes, she practically danced around the room when she moved.  _ Surely she's decked out in the brightest of colors. Any person to have her would be lucky.  _ Cass smiled as she approached and did as she did every time she visited.

"Surprise me." The girl gave out another bubbly smile, eyes an off silver color shined with happiness. She disappeared around the back before returning a few minutes later with a plate and mug.

"Today its French silk pie and cinnamon hot cocoa! Enjoy!"  _ Truly this girl was a gem.  _ Cass sat at her table by the door, sipping her cocoa and eating the pie as she observed the other residents of the cafe. There was a little boy and his mother in one corner, a couple across the room. A rowdy group of men were in the other corner, celebrating some victory or another, and at least one of them wasn't quite sober. But the cafe was still quiet. The noise all melted away to the background.  _ Damn this pie is really good. Not gonna lie so is the views.  _ A look out the window revealed a park in a multitude of greys and Cass was sure it would be prettier if only she had found her soulmate. A peek back in the cafe showed off the cute waitress in her bouncy layered dress with the bow in her hair. Yes, Cass would call this a pretty perfect day, with some pretty perfect views.

~~~

For Wren it wasn't a pretty perfect day. Three of her hair bands had snapped when she put her hair in its high ponytail, her favorite necklace chain broke, and her car had refused to start that morning. So she walked, in forty degree weather, four blocks down to the little cafe where she worked at. At least she could find her ribbon this time, and her apron wasn't missing off her hook.  _ One of these days my bad luck is gonna kill me. _ Her other coworkers hadn't shown yet, so she busied herself with setting up the display case, readying coffee machines, and cleaning the glass. When she was done with that, she took the French silk pie she had labored over the past day, and sheared chocolate curls off a block for the top. Placing it somewhere cool until it was needed.  _ Would I get in trouble if I made myself coffee here? _

It was like any other shift, for the most part, once Lynnette showed up to run the register and Caroline and Stacy got there to run the kitchen. Wren had already prepared the sweets for the day so they'd mostly be acting as baristas and making breakfast foods for any who ordered.

The men in the corner had been there for almost an hour. A mother and son for a few minutes. The couple who was in there almost daily since they opened an hour and a half ago. The clock struck nine am when her favorite customer walked in. The girl carried an air of confidence Wren wished she could have, two tone bob-cut hair swishing as she sat down at her usual table near the door. Every day, she would ask Wren to pick for her. It scared her a little, in the beginning. Wren was terrified she would pick something the girl hated. But the look of awe in her face as she bit into tiramisu for what was presumably the first time made Wren inexplicably happy. Maybe today would be a little brighter.

She took a moment to glance at the girl as she tried the pie. The same look of awe lit up in her eyes, and a smile graced her lips. Today was a good choice then. Wren was glad she could make someone else's day better.  _ Almost seven hours of baking time was well worth it. _ One of the men from the corner called her over and she had to go answer. They were nice people, if a little uncoordinated.

The girl at the table by the door had finished her pie by now, and was idly playing with her phone. Wren moved to ask if she needed anything else, but the girls look of alarm stopped her short. This was not the right thing to do. One of the less coordinated men (Jeremy? Jeff? She couldn't recall his name) stumbled, and used her back as a push off platform to right his balance. A large hand shoved her forwards, a squeak escaping her mouth as she tried to turn and gather her balance at the same time. 

Her luck struck again.  _ Her foot slipped and gave out at the last second.  _ Wren closed her eyes, expecting to hit a table, or the floor. She was not expecting to crash into someone's lap. One hand gripped her back and another her left wrist, and Wren's own right hand had desperately latched onto the girls bare shoulder. It was like some parody of a classical dip, she mused. She opened her eyes, and gasped. 

For Wren it was like a floodgate had opened. Everything was bright. She had memorised each color of grey, memorised what they'd turn into with a book of colors. And the first thing she saw was sapphire. The girl's face turned cherry red. 

"I'm so sorry!" Wren blurted out, before scrambling to get up and scurrying back to the back.  _ This day couldn't get worse if it tried.  _

For Cass, it was a trickle. She didn't even notice until she got home and looked in a mirror several hours later. It started with eyes, she realised. And though she had never taken interest in colors before, now she threw herself into her sisters book full of them because  _ she needed to know that color.  _ That color of gem she saw in the waitress's eyes as she stuttered and ran away. She needed to know the color that the leaves bled to as she looked out her room's window, the color of her hair, the color of the sun when it sets. When did she start seeing things as they truly were? It was when she caught the waitress she realised. Another flip of a page and she saw the color again, though it wasn't nearly as bright as the girl's eyes. 

She found its exact color. Aquamarine. Fitting that the gemstone of a girl would have gemstone eyes.

~~~

She was back at the cafe again a week later. The Girl was at the cashier's counter this time. Cass wondered how she could have ever lived without the colors. All the blues and greens she could now see. Would she see the others if she touched  _ her _ again?

"Hi." The girl looked up in shock.

"Have you been OK? You haven't been in in a week." She covered her mouth after she spoke, her face still in greyscale turning a slightly darker shade. 

"Oh! I'm OK! More than OK actually now that I've seen you." Cass wanted to slap herself for that comment but she also didn't want to look crazy in front of the gorgeous person. "Umm… cashier's choice?" She handed over a twenty dollar bill and walked to her usual table. 

Wren smiled. Today was already a better day than last week. She knew exactly what to give. Ducking into the back, she searched out the cupcakes she made the night before. Le Petit Gâteau des Légions Noires. Chocolate and cream cheese, and sinfully delicious if she did say so herself. She plucked two from the bakers dozen and placed them on a plate. Accompanying it with a mug of hot water and a couple tea bags to choose from.

Before setting out the door, however, she stopped and thought. A horrible, terrible idea. A brilliant idea. But also a terrible one.  _ Wren, you are usually smarter than this. _ She mused, staring at the tiny order slip papers that never got used.  _ Maybe next time. I'll build up the courage. _

After the girl had left, and it was closing time, Wren went to check her tip jar. Not many noticed the jar was there at all, so most tips were just divided from the cash box. But today there was something different. Two dollar bills, and a slip of paper. Somewhat messy scribing decorated the white square, blue ink slightly smudged along the crease.

_ The cake was great! For the tea I chose peach, but I think no tea next time. -C _

Wren tucked the piece into her breast pocket of her coat and smiled. Yes. It was a much better day.

~~~

Weeks passed, each one the same routine. Give C something new, or maybe something old if she asks, and get feedback on a little paper at the end of the day. Today was Saturday, Wren mused. It was her day off.  _ There's a little bookstore down the street. Maybe I should head over there.  _ Her new plan decided, she gathered her bags and her coat and headed out the door.

Cass was having a great time. She learned far more of colors than she ever thought she would in the past few weeks, through hand brushes at the register or handing over and taking plates. Her world was lit with blues and reds and every color in between. The little bookstore she worked in was filled with color now and she couldn't understand how she had ever lived without it. Surely she wasn't worthy to see this rainbow around her? The bells on the doorknob jingled.

"Hi, can I help you with anything?" She called from behind the counter, piles with covers in jewel tones splayed out before her and a Starbucks coffee cup at the edge of the desk. She felt bad looking at it.  _ Does this count as cheating on my lovely waitress? _ Her daily heart attack came in the form of a quiet voice and sunshine strands.

"Hello, do you happen to have any copies of  _ The Wizard of Oz _ ? I've been wanting to read it again but my copy was borrowed and never returned." Cass knew there had to be one somewhere. Cass knew. 

So why did she had over her own copy for the girl to borrow?

Cass blamed that gorgeous one shoulder top and shorts combo that walked its way into her workplace.

~~~

Three days later Cass's manager handed her the book, claiming "an absolute angel" said it was hers. A plain white square of paper served as a bookmark at the end. But on closer inspection it wasn't nearly as pristine as Cass thought.

Because scribbled in the corner, in slightly hurried handwriting was a phone number.

Wren didn't know why she shoved her number in the book, but when she received a message back (and a promise to meet outside of work for once) she was thrilled. This time they'd both be the patrons at the cafe, not a patron and a worker.

At noon she found herself waiting outside the cafe in a black dress with white polka dots, the knee-length skirt flaring in the breeze, halter top contrasting with pale skin. Hands worried at a small black clutch, or at the end of the wavy ponytail held by a ribbon at the back of her head. A smile graced rose painted lips as she saw the blue and black tresses round the corner. Lunch was filled with laughter, and the two knew they'd be doing it again.

~~~

Two years went by. The summer air was warm on their skin as the two women walked hand in hand through the botanical garden.

"Hey Cassie-boo, what flower am I?" The smaller of the two looked up at her partners face with a smile, aquamarine gaze bright and happy. 

The taller girl gazed at her for a moment, ever in awe of the brilliant teal color that looked adoringly into her own darker blue.  _ I'm far too gay for this. _ She thought as she spoke her reply. 

"You are a sunflower, because you're bright and cheerful and I adore you. You are a lilac, because you are brimming with love. You are a daisy for your bright purity, lavender for your grace, and forget-me-not because you bring me good memories. You brought the color into my life, Birdy. No rose could outshine your meaning to me." The smaller girl's face lit up pink as they made their way to their "picnic corner" in a secluded corner of the park. "What flower am I to you?" 

Wren's nose wrinkled in concentration, a face Cass couldn't help but think was cute.

"Edelweiss, because you are brave. Yellow tulip, because your smiles are always bright. Morning glories and red salvia, because I love you and you are forever mine. Calla lily for your beauty, and lily-of-the-valley for how sweet you are. I don't deserve the likes of you, Cassie-boo." She stepped closer to her with eahh flower listed, placing a box in Cass's hand as she leaned on her tiptoes to kiss the tall girls nose. Cass flushed cherry red and stuttered as she tried to open the gift wrapped box in her hands.

"This is my promise to you that I'm not going anywhere." Cass lifted from the box an elaborate necklace of gold, with a single large aquamarine pendant in the center. Wren took it gently and clasped it around Cass's neck. She pushed a similar box into the smaller girl's hands as she fiddled with her new adornment.

"Great minds think alike, don't they?" A tear rolled down Wren's cheek as she pulled out a braided silver chain with a large sapphire pendant. 

Today was perfect. 

~~~

It was five years in when they met again in that clearing, one fall afternoon, with other, much smaller boxes.

"Birdy," Cass hummed as she sat on the stone edge of a fountain surrounded by bright yellow and orange flowers. "I don't even know what to say. I mean, you're such a beauty. I'm like the epitome of the beast-" she cut herself off after seeing her partner's glare. Muttering apologies, Cass shuffled before pulling a box from her sweater pocket and kneeling in front of Wren.

She was shocked when she looked up from her hands and saw Wren giggling and mirroring her pose, a velvet box held open to a silver band with a black stone in the center. Cass's own hands opened the box she held to show the rose gold ring set with a shining opal cut like a rose. "I think the easiest way to say what you're trying to say, Cassie-boo, is 'Will you be my wife?'"

Cass grinned silently as the two exchanged rings. If a few happy tears escaped, she wasn't about to tell.

~~~

Early spring evening, in the same botanical garden they had met in so many times before, an arch of sunflowers and Roses stood against the pale blue sky. Rows of white chairs lines either side of a wide stone pathway scattered with petals of all colors. Music echoed through the courtyard.

Cass waited by the altar, having already walked up with her sister holding her arm. Shimmering lace trimmed ivory fell smoothly like silk against her form, mermaid skirt flaring out just below her knees. The necklace of gold and aquamarine felt cool against her skin, and the long veil pinned to ebony hair arranged to fall in curls to her shoulders shielded part of her face. Her breath was stolen away as she looked upon the being she was to spend the rest of her life with. 

A gown of white, for that was the only thing it could possibly be, trimmed with lace and covered in pink roses. A train longer than her own picked up petals a s she walked. The silver and sapphire necklace glinted in the sunlight, and golden tresses pinned in an elaborate bun Cass could only half comprehend shined like the sun. A bouquet of pink in hand, similar to and yet entirely unlike her own of white and violet.  _ I am in the presence of true royalty.  _ Cass thought as Wren reached the altar and stood in front of her.

When it was time to speak, Wren answered. "I do, sure as red salvia." Cass could barely remember saying "I do" in her daze. Suddenly there was no color that could compare to the shining woman in front of her, and she reaffirmed her favorite color was aquamarine as they lifted each others veils together.

~~~

Wren sat on the couch in the living room of their three bedroom house, as she looked back on the events that felt like yesterday but were nearly half a decade ago. Her hands busied themselves with a brush as a small redhead sat on her lap, and black hair at her feet.

"Hey mama, how did you and mommy meet?" The little redhead chimed, her sister turning her head to listen as well. Wren finished the braid crown she had been weaving before setting down the brush and pulling the second child to join the first on her lap. 

"Well, Suni my Kitten, Princess Myra, that's quite the story." A soft smile spread on pink lips as the children lit up in joy. A shadow fell over their faces as another voice joined the conversation. Cass, with a third small child riding on top of her shoulders, leaned forward over Wren's shoulder to look the kids in the eyes and grinned. Wren brought her eyes up to meet sapphire blue, and Cass spoke:

"You could say your Mama fell for me."


End file.
